Ada Friedman
b. Washington, D.C., USA, 1984Lives and works in the Texas Hill Country & Brooklyn, NY, USA
Education
2016 MFA, Painting, Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY2006 BA, Studio Art and Art History, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
2005 Painting and Printmaking, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, Scotland
Solo Exhibitions
2026• (forthcoming) David Petersen Gallery, Minneapolis, MN, USA
• Echo Art, KAJE, Brooklyn, NY, USA
• Performance Proposals, Everydays, Ana Mendieta Gallery, University of Iowa City, IA, USA
2025 Star, Kendra Jayne Patrick, Bern, Switzerland
2024 Ballads, Ada Friedman featuring Helen Adam, David Peter Francis, NY, USA
2022 Painting in Pisces, Kendra Jayne Patrick, Bern, Switzerland
2020 Everyday Drawings and Pyramids, Grifter, New York City, USA
2016 Jane, Grace, and Emily, 17 Essex, New York City, USA
2012 Amanda Friedman, Eli Ping Frances Perkins, New York City, USA
Art Fairs
2025 Independent, duo presentation with Constanza Camila Kramer Garfias, Kendra Jayne Patrick, New York City, USA2024 The Salon Invitational, NADA, Kendra Jayne Patrick, Paris, France
2023
• Art Basel Miami Beach, solo presentation, Kendra Jayne Patrick, Miami, Florida, USA
• The Living Room at Art Genève, Genève, Switzerland, curated by Balthazar Lovay
2017
• NADA New York, Regina Rex, New York City, USA
• Photo Booth, NADA Miami, Shimizu Brand, Miami, Florida, USA
Select Group and Two-Person Exhibitions
2026• No-Man’s-Land, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN. Curated by Kelsie Conley
• A Selection of Works by: Lucas Blalock, Mike Cloud, Ada Friedman, and Rose Wylie, Thomas Erben, New York, NY
2025
• September, Shore Gallery, Vienna, Austria. Curated by Otto Bonnen
• A CLEAN WELL-LIGHTED SPACE → An homage to Dave Hicke, Nature of Things, Dallas, TX
• Files, Kunsthalle Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland. Curated by Otto Bonnen
• Painting Deconstructed, Ortega Y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn, NY
2023
• Perennials: 10 Years of Essex Flowers, Essex Flowers, New York, NY
• Cecilia Caldiera, Ada Friedman, Brandon Morris, Yeh Art Gallery, St. John’s University, New York, NY
2022
• A Rose Goes, UTK Downtown Gallery, Knoxville, TN
• Afterimage, Ernestine, Livingston Manor, New York, NY
• Jump All The Morning, Ladies’ Room, Los Angeles, CA
2021
• NADA House, New Art Dealers Alliance, Governors Island, New York, NY
2020
• The Essential Goods Show, Fisher Parrish Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (Online)
• Cloud Memories, White Columns Online. Curated by Adrianne Rubenstein
2019
• Family Show, Safe Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
• The Burn Show, Safe Gallery, East Hampton, NY
• Bernadette Mayer’s Synesthesia, Brodsky Gallery, Kelly Writers House, University of Penn., Philadelphia, PA
• Splash Zone, 182 Ave. C, New York, NY
2018
• Amanda Friedman / Peter LaBier, Safe Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
• Daddy's Books, Life Lessons, Far Rockaway, NY; Marlboro College, VT. Curated by Caitlin MacBride and Lauren Faigles
• In Congruence, Alyssa Davis Gallery, New York City, NY
2017
• Group Show, Shimizu Brand, Long Island City, NY
• Power to the Peaceful, SITUATIONS, NY, NY
2016
• Twenty-three-some, Bard MFA Thesis Show, UBS-Bard Exhibition Center, Red Hook, New York
• Summer Anagram, NURTUREart, Brooklyn, NY. Curated by Marco Antonini
2015
• 6.021 MaMA Cubicle (with Miniature Garden), MoMA Cubicle, NY, NY. Curated by Zanna Gilbert
• Being Essex Flowers, Adds Donna, Chicago, IL. Curated by Kendra Jayne Patrick
• Trust Fall, Spring Break Art Fair, NY, NY. Curated by Jennifer Sullivan
2014
• Mental Furniture, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. Curated by Petrella’s Imports
• Sisrahtac, Torrance Shipman, Brooklyn, NY. Curated by Brie Ruais and Maria Stabio
• Former Models: An Exhibition, BRIC House Gallery, Brooklyn, NY. Curated by Merkx & Gwynne
• Devil’s Dust, with Alissa Mckendrick, SOUTHFIRST, Brooklyn, NY
• The Last Brucennial, The Bruce High Quality Foundation, NY, NY
• U:L:O: Part II, Interstate Projects, Brooklyn, NY. Curated by Blonde Art Books
2013
• The Alfred Jensen Painting at Bellevue Hospital, with Laura Hunt, Jackie Klempay/Situations, Brooklyn, NY
• Summer Academy Show, Autocenter, Berlin, Germany
• Snail Salon, Regina Rex, Queens, NY. Curated by Adrianne Rubenstein
• The Rose Show, Cleopatra’s, Brooklyn, NY
• DIY PLINTH, do it (outside), Socrates Sculpture Park, Queens, NY. Organized by Rachel Higgins
2012
• Primary, Nudashank, Baltimore, MD. Curated by Jamillah James
Select Press
2026• Ashton Cooper, "A Dancing Mind," in
• Glasstire, Review: A Clean, Well-Lighted Place: An Homage to Dave Hickey, Ian Etter, May 29, 2025.
• Artnet, Works to Remember From Independent's Elegant 2025 Edition, Ben Davis, May 9, 2025.
• Hyperallergic, Downtown New York Shines at the Independent Art Fair, Lisa Yin Zhang, May 9, 2025.
2024
• The Brooklyn Rail, Ada Friedman and Helen Adam: Ballads, Elizabeth Buhe, November 26, 2024.
• BOMB Magazine, Painting a dancing mind, Ada Friedman interviewed by Alina Tenser
• Brooklyn Rail, Ada Friedman and Helen Adam: Ballads, Elizabeth Buhe.
• Family Style, Painting Time: Ada Friedman marches into mysterious territories, guided by the words of the late poet Helen Adam, Qingyuan Deng
2021
• Jennifer Sullivan, Interview: Amanda Friedman, It's A Process Podcast, Spring
2020
• halayne Pulia, They Love New York, InStyle, August 5, 2020.
2018
• Alec Coiro, Amanda Friedman and Peter LaBier at Safe Gallery, Ravelin, May
2015
• Andrew Russeth, The Road Less Traveled - A Few Reviews From Slightly Out of the Way Galleries, Art News, Dec. 11, 2015.
2014
• Jen Coster, Jen Coster Visits the Los Angeles Art Book Fair and Culver City’s Blum & Poe, Bmoreart. Feb. 10, 2014.
• Hrag Vartanian, Remember When Milli Vanilli Were Artists?, Hyperallergic. Jan. 31, 2014.
• Sonel Breslav, Just Another Day At The Beach-Because Nothing Ends By Amanda Friedman, Blonde Art Books. Jan. 6, 2014.
• Kendra Jayne Patrick, Thought Forms: Amanda B. Friedman, turbulence. Jan. 11, 2014.
2013
• Andrew Russeth, The Year in, an Beyond, the Galleries, GalleristNY. Dec. 18, 2013.
• Michael Rutherford, AMANDA FRIEDMAN: INTERVIEW, Painter’s Bread. March 9, 2013.
• Russeth, Andrew, 2013 in 2033, GalleristNY (blog). February 23, 2013.
• Kylie Gava, January 2013: Issue 07, FORGETGOOD, Jan. 2013.
2012
• Cara Ober, Bmoreart's Best Baltimore Exhibitions of 2012, Bmoreart. Dec. 29, 2012.
• Hrag Vartanian, 9 Artists to Watch from the 2012 Bushwick Open Studios, Hyperallergic. June 12, 2012.
Grants / Awards / Residencies
2025-2026• Painting and Drawing Fellowship, Grant Wood Colony, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
2024
• 2025 Catherine Doctorow Prize for Contemporary Painting, Nomination, UMOCA
2020-2021
• Artist-in-Residence, NYC Dept. Of Cultural Affairs & Dept. Of Aging and Brooklyn Arts Council, NYC
• Professional Development Grant, Housatonic Community College, Bridgeport, CT
2019
• Clay Break, Resident Artist, The University of Arkansas, Ceramics Department, Fayetteville, AR
2018
• The School of Making and Thinking, Performing and Playwriting Residency, Prattsville, NY
2016
• Joseph Hartog Fund Travel Grant, Bard MFA, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
• Rema Hort Mann Foundation, New York Nominee, Emerging Artist Grant
• Frontispiece Hudson, Resident Artist, Coxsackie, NY
2014-16
• Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts, Bard College, MFA Fellowship and Scholarship
2013 Autocenter Summer Academy, Resident Artist, Berlin, Germany
2012 The Shandaken Project, Resident Artist, Shandaken, NY
2009 Millay Colony for the Arts, Winter Shaker Resident, Austerlitz, NY
2007 Vermont Studio Center, Fellowship Artist, Johnson, VT
Visiting Artist & Critic
2020• Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, PA, - Visiting Artist, Painting Department
• Brooklyn Arts Council, NY. Panelist, Remote Learning Webinar, Community Art Programs
2019
• University of Arkansas, Pryor Center, Fayetteville, AR - Artist-in-Residence Artist Talk
• Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD - Visiting Critic, Interdisciplinary Sculpture Department
2017-18
• Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ - Visiting Critic, BFA Thesis Course
Select Collaborations & Performances
2025• Bad Stars by Amanda Horowitz, Collapsible Hole, New York, NY. Performer
2024
• Helen Rides 7, David Peter Francis, New York, NY. Wrote, directed, choreography, set
2022
• Between Myself, the Cricket, and the Coyote, Amanda Horowitz, Bad Water, Knoxville, TN. performer Pathwork Play B, Tristar Arts, Knoxville, TN. Wrote, directed, set, performer
2021
• 17th Street Ghost, Gordon Robichaux, New York, NY (with the Rosemary Mayer Estate)
2020
• February Ghosts, a part of An exhibition by Nick Mauss Bizarre Silks, Private Imaginings and Narrative Facts, etc. Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland. Worked with artist Nick Mauss and the Rosemary Mayer Estate to research, plot out, and construct this temporal installation.
2019
• Helen Rides V, All Saints Church, NY, NY. Wrote, directed, set, costumes (Produced by Vivien Theatre Video)
• Helen Rides IV, All Saints Church, NY, NY. Wrote, directed, set, costumes
2018
• Helen Rides III, SMT, Prattsville Art Center, Prattsville, NY. Wrote, directed, set, costumes
• Helen Rides II, Safe Gallery, Brooklyn, NY. Wrote, directed, set, costumes
• Helen Rides, Safe Gallery, Brooklyn, NY. Wrote, directed, set, costumes
2017
• Performance with Delia Gonzalez and Rich Porter, Situations Gallery/Situations Athens, Athens, Greece
• The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Impure Fiction, Kunstverein Hannover, Hanover, Germany. Set, production, performed
• A Pink Chair, The Wooster Group, NY, NY. Production, set (technical apprenticeship)
2016
• Turn Again, performance in conjunction with Rosemary Mayer exhibition, SOUTHFIRST Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
• She Can Move Soft Things With Her Mind, Bard MFA Thesis Show, UBS-Bard Exhibition Center, Red Hook, NY
• Keychain Stream Dream, A play, New York Flowers Festival, Essex Flowers, NY, NY. Wrote, designed, directed
2015
• I Lost Something in the Hills or A Painting of Blue Roses, U.S. Blues, Brooklyn, NY. Wrote, designed, directed
2014
• Drawing Hilma Af Klint: An Event, The Shandaken Project, Shandaken, New York. Organized with Ariel Dill
• Kinesis Pieces (with Joanna Yagerman), Essex Flowers, NY, NY. Curated by Gabriela Salazar and Mary Choueiter